Ian Wright reserved praise for the ‘magnificent’ Hugo Lloris after Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Aston Villa on Saturday, speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day.
Oh how he needed that.
After a week in which reports emerged suggesting that Spurs were closing in on the signing of England international Sam Johnstone, their 35-year-old shot-stopper rolled back the years in a performance which proved that there is still plenty of life left in this old dog (The Sun).
Lloris found himself in the limelight for all the wrong reasons after high-profile blunders against Wolves, Manchester City and Newcastle United recently.
But, as Spurs moved one giant step closer to Champions League qualification at Villa Park, it was their long-serving Frenchman who laid the foundations, producing an unbeatable first-half performance as Tottenham rode a claret-and-blue storm before the terrific trio of Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-Min Son made their presence felt after the interval.
Will Tottenham qualify for the Champions League?
“Like Steven Gerrard said, he’s gone in at half-time and he’s proud of his team,” says Wright.
Remarkably, Lloris made eight saves to Emi Martinez’s one at Villa Park, including a stunning reflex stop to deny a rampaging Jacob Ramsey at 0-0.
“But you have to take the chances. Fantastic save (from Ramsey). The goalkeeper was magnificent today,” Wright adds.
After a dreadful first-half performance – Villa dominated in every statistic but the one that truly matters in a one-sided opening ‘45 – Spurs were a team transformed after the break, Son firing home a hat-trick while the imperious Kulusevski tied Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa up in knots.
“The clinicalness, the ruthlessness, of Tottenham’s front three was just a joy to watch,” adds former Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy.
“Kulusevski… what a tremendous signing he’s been. They’ll want to get him tied down (to a permanent deal), that’s for sure. And (Son) is brilliant every week.”
A suddenly fearsome Tottenham side have now won six of their last seven games, scoring 25 goals along the way.
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